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HD201 Coach
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Head Down · Relative · The brief

Head-Down 201

Fly head-down in a 2-way

Head down with one other person, on the level, slot, dock discipline.

What this unit covers

Covers flying head-down relative to one other flyer: linked and unlinked exits, break to face-off, 360s in place, level following, approaches under the Level → Slot → Dock discipline, hand-to-hand docks, the crest signal sequence (coach-signalled front loop and HD↔HU half transitions), and breakoff in a 2-way.
Applies to flyers competent in HD 102 (solo head-down control and transitions). Environment: sky, with tunnel drills as preparation.
The rest of it
The recommended tunnel preparation: head-down neutral off the net, up/down control, turns and fore/aft drives. Supervision: with a coach, who starts as the in-air reference and moves to flying passively as the skills consolidate.
This unit sits mid-progression toward the head-down crest: the crest assessment content follows the APF Training Operations Manual dive flows.
The mandatory the APF Training Operations Manual Stage 4 (Head-Down Level 2) signal sequence, after the hand-to-hand dock, is: coach signals for a front loop, then coach signals for a half transition to head-up, then coach signals for a half transition back to head-down, then a second dock (the APF Training Operations Manual V01-2025 p.59).
The educational APF006 §8.6 reproduces the same flow but omits the front loop.
This unit therefore briefs and trains the full mandatory flow, including the coach-signalled front loop, and introduces the half transitions here so the crest sequence is already familiar. the APF Training Operations Manual does not use the words "holding fall rate": maintaining a freefly-speed fall rate through the transitions is the FFP's own coaching emphasis.

What comes before it

Screen 2 · What to watch

What to watch

The same short list the flyer sees on their card, in the same words.

3.5
Follow the partner through one level change up and one down, re-establishing level (head-height tolerance) within 3 seconds of each.

Can you follow another flyer through a level change up and one down, getting back on level within three seconds each time?

3.7
Hold level (head-height tolerance) for 3 seconds, then hold the slot for 3 seconds, before initiating the dock (Level → Slot → Dock).

Do you hold level for three seconds, then the slot for three seconds, before you start the dock?

3.8
Take a hand-to-hand dock by flying the body to the grip, arms take the grip only, no reaching, without destabilising the partner.

Can you dock by flying your body to the grip, letting your arm take the grip only, without reaching for it?

3.10 Safety critical
Back out to level immediately on any instability during approach or dock, re-approaching only when stable.

If you get unstable on an approach or on the grip, do you back out to level and only re-approach once stable?

Screen 3 · What blocks a sign-off

What blocks a sign-off

A safety-critical criterion marked not yet stops the sign-off, however good the rest of the flying was. There is no averaging across this line, and no trading a good jump against it.

Safety-critical criteria on the short list

3.10
Back out to level immediately on any instability during approach or dock, re-approaching only when stable.

If you get unstable on an approach or on the grip, do you back out to level and only re-approach once stable?

Everything this unit says about breakoff and deployment

1.3
State breakoff and deployment altitudes, and the lost-partner plan (guide: 5,000 ft for freefly groups up to 4-way, noting most modern jumpers set 5,500 ft for any freefly group and will generally not accept 4,500).
4.1
Initiate breakoff at the briefed altitude (within −0/+300 ft).
4.5
Decelerate before deployment: pitch the track back up, get big and wide, and listen for the wind noise decreasing, flare like a wingsuiter, star-fish.
4.6
Deploy at the planned altitude after clearing airspace, noting how hard the opening is and learning the timings. A fast, steep, efficient track gains great separation but can leave you outside the container and canopy speed envelopes, risking a hard opening: shredded end cells, broken lines, torn fabric.

Recording a sign-off says what you saw on one jump. It is not a rating, it is not a permission to jump, and it does not replace anything the drop zone requires.

Screen 4 · Conditions

Conditions

Where the evidence is allowed to come from, and how much of it there needs to be.

Assessment conditions

Sky jumps from a recommended 10,000 ft minimum. Video of assessment jumps is required (coach-flown or helmet-mounted, candidate identifiable): the debrief loop and the evidence both depend on it. Required equipment: visual altimeter, functioning audible altimeter, freefly-suitable gear, AAD recommended.
Conditions within the candidate's cleared limits. Assessor: a freefly coach current in head-down coaching, using the published FFP-HD201 checklist (Satisfactory / Not Yet Satisfactory per criterion).

Performance evidence

Ability is evidenced across coached 2-way jumps, typically around 6. That number is a guide to how long it might take rather than a quota, and it matches HU 201: it is difficult and futile to rank head-up against head-down, and many find head-down easier with experience. Competency, not jump counts, is the standard.
Tunnel time may substitute for up to two of the skill-development jumps, but not the assessment jumps, tunnel evidence covering the equivalent head-down control skills (neutral off the net, up/down, turns, fore/aft).
Evidence is gathered across at least two different days/conditions, including two consecutive jumps meeting all criteria without coach assistance or prompts, within a recommended 6-month currency window.

Screen 5 · Debrief

Debrief

Safety first, then fun, then learning. In that order, every time.

Coaching priorities

Deliver in the project's priority order: Safety → Fun → Learning (curriculum Part A0). Hold safety criteria to the best-practice standard described above. Design the session to be enjoyable: participants choose this expensive hobby, and enjoyment sustains both the student and the sport.
End debriefs on a win with one improvement focus.

One fault, one correction

Ask for their read before you give yours. Then leave them with one fault and one correction, in their words if you can get them. Six points is six points forgotten by the next load.

A jump marked not yet is a jump to re-fly, not a failure, and saying so out loud is part of the debrief.

Record this jump

Your notes for this unit

Saved on this device only. Nothing is sent anywhere, there is nowhere for it to go, and no account is involved. They will be here next time you open this card.

This card is a summary. The full Head-Down 201 unit carries the reasoning, the sources and everything left off here. All briefing cards.